THERE AS THOUSANDS LINED UP TO TAKE PART IN THE NEW TRADITION. WE BEGIN WITH AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING IN ORANGE COUNTY, POLICE SAID THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE ATTACK SOD THEY HAD T--ATTACK SOD THEY HAED SO THEY HAD TO OPEN FIRE. AMAKA UBAKA HAS NEW INFORMATION ON THE MAN IN THE HOSPITAL. Reporter: A FAMILY MEMBER TELLS US 27-YEAR-OLD WAS SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES RIGHT HERE BY THIS TREE. POLICE SAY HE CAME TOWARD THEM IN A THREATENING MAN WE ARE A BASEBALL BAT, AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO TRY TO DIFFUSE THE SITUATION THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO SHOOT. HE IS A PEACEFUL PERSON, NEVER TOUCH ANYBODY. THE FATHER OF THE 27-YEAR-OLD, THE MAN POLICE SNOT THIS QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD LAST NIGHT. WAS IT NECESSARY TO SHOOT HIM NINE TIMES? HOURS BEFORE THE SHOOTING, HIS SON HAD BEEN ANGRY AND ACTING BIZARRE, PROMPTING HIM TO CALL POLICE. YESTERDAY, I CALLED THE POLICE AT 3:00, CAN YOU TAKE HIM TO THE MENTAL HOSPITAL BECAUSE HE ACT STRANGE, I SAY. THEY WOULDN'T, THEY SAY YOU HAVE TO EVICT HIM. HIS SON HAS A HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS, BEING TREATED AS RECENTLY AS TWO MONTHS AGO. POLICE TOOK HIM TO KENNEDY AND BEFORE THAT HE WAS IN LAKESIDE, TOO. DESPITE THE HISTORY, HE WAS HOME ALONE WHEN NEIGHBORS CALLED POLICE, AFTER SEEING HIM WALK AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH A BASEBALL BAT. HE CAME HOME AFTER GETTING A CALL FROM A NEIGHBOR AND TOLD HIS SON TO TALK TO POLICE. THEY ARE NOTHING ELSE. OFFICERS TRIED TALKING TO HIM BUT WERE FORCED TO SHOCK AND THEN SHOOT HIM AFTER HE CAME AT THEM AGGRESSIVELY WITH THE BAT. POLICE WON'T CONFIRM HOW MANY TIMES HE WAS SHOT, BUT HIS FAMILY SAYS HE STILL IS IN INTENSIVE CARE, BATTLING FOR HIS LIFE HE ALSO HAS A CRIMINAL HISTORY, BEEN ARRESTED FOR BATTERY SEVERAL TIMES FOR PETTY THEFT, AND TRESPASSING. AS FOR THE OFFICERS INVOLVED, THEY HAVE BEEN PLACED ON PAID

ORLANDO, Fla. -

Orlando police officers were forced to shoot a man armed with a baseball bat after he began attacking officers who were there to help him, according to authorities.

Police continue to investigate what led 27-year-old Almed Gebreyohonnes to threaten officers with a bat Thursday night on a cul-de-sac on Candice Court.

Neighbors called 911, saying they were concerned about Gebreyohonnes' bizarre behavior.

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"People were in fear that because of how he was acting and carrying the baseball bat, possibly swinging the baseball bat," Orlando police Sgt. Jim Young said. "Officers attempted to talk to him to calm him down, but the longer they talked, the more aggressive he became."

Police said Gebreyohonnes started to come toward three officers.

An officer shocked the man with a stun gun, but police say it didn't stop him and made him more combative. Police said the officers were placed in a deadly force situation and fired shots at the man.

Police said Gebreyohonnes was known to be violent and has a history of mental illness.

"It appears in this case he was going after officers after being warned and Tased and talked to,” Young said.

Gebreyohonnes' brother told Local 6 that his brother was shot nine times by police and is still in ICU at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Police, however, haven't confirmed how many times the man was shot or where he was struck.

He is listed as critical but stable condition, police said.

Gebreyohonnes has been arrested on an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and detectives will be adding the additional charges of several counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

"He is a peaceful person he never touched anybody," said Meb Yohan, who tells Local 6 he Gebreyohonnes' father.

"Yesterday I called police at 3 o'clock. 'Can you take him to the mental hospital becausehe act strange?' I say," Yohan said. "They wouldn't. They say you have to evict him from your house."

Yohan said his son was treated for a mental illness as recently as two months ago.

The officers involved in the shooting, Officer Danny Stallworth, 48, and Officer Daniel Bruns, 31, have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

Stallworth was hired in 1989 and Bruns was hired in 2007.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates on this story.

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